Heroism around us

“A dead thing can go with the stream – but only a living thing can go against it.”  (G. K. Chesterton)

Recently, I was driving by a ministry that assists people with food, clothing, and basic needs for their family. A beautiful young mother was holding her baby in the air above her face, taking in that gorgeous child and fully delighting in him. Seeing his mother’s delight, the baby (who must have only been a few months old) was smiling back in response. I thought about how we can know intellectually all the reasons for each baby to be given life. But a true understanding of this comes when we experience that life for ourselves. 

I was so delighted by their delight that I regretted not parking and thanking her for choosing life. 

It reminded me of a young woman I met several years back. I had observed her young son playing with the other kids. Talking with her later, I commented how it is clear which of those children is hers because her son looks exactly like her, and he is also soooooo sweet. She burst out in tears and thanked me. She said she was raped, and every day of her pregnancy she prayed that he would not look like her rapist because she didn’t know if she could look at that man’s face the rest of her life. 

Spend a few moments considering the profundity of this: she knew this was the risk but she chose to give the child life anyway. Nine months of waiting to see if her prayers would be answered. Likely nine months of people telling her to abort. But she chose not to pass down the harm done to her, not to place that evil upon her innocent child. She knew the risk and she took the risk anyway. That’s heroic virtue. 

Respect Life Month may be formally drawing to a close, but it is our duty and pleasure to live it always. Heroism surrounds us every day. But we can’t praise it unless we first see it; we cannot see it unless we first recognize it. This is our challenge today: find it in your ‘footprint’ on the planet. Then praise them and our God from whom all blessings come, for their heroism is a gift they bring to us all. 

“Where then does duty lie for us, the disciples of Christ the mild and merciful who did so much for us? Shall we not emulate the Lord’s compassion? Shall we not be kind to our fellow servants so that the Lord may in equal spirit repay us to the measure of our own kindness? Shall we not gain our own lives through gentleness?” (Pope St. Gregory Nazianzen)

 Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam 😊

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